Man accused in girl's murder could face death penalty

The Fairfield man accused of the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl made his first court appearance Wednesday. Anthony Lamar Jones could get the death penalty if convicted of Genelle Conway-Allen's murder.

The hearing lasted just a few minutes before it was pushed back a week. Jones said "Yes, sir," and "No, sir," when answering questions from the judge. Members of his family were in the courtroom along with the man who found the young girl's body.

Jones is charged with the kidnap, rape and murder of Genelle, 13-year-old seventh grader, whose nude body was found in a Fairfield park.

Eric May is the homeless man who found the girl's lifeless body on the morning of Feb. 1. He sat in the front row of the courtroom.

"Mostly for the family and friends; I think I owe it to them to be here," he said.

May had his own impressions of the mild-mannered man he saw in court.

"He doesn't look like...he looks like a human being, but what he did to her was unimaginable," May said.

Jones, who worked at a local barber shop, did not enter a plea to charges that could bring him the death penalty. They include murder with three special circumstances: kidnapping, rape and a lewd act upon a child under 14.

Jones was arrested near his mother's apartment on Tabor Avenue last Friday. The last known photo of Genelle was taken from a store surveillance camera just across the street.

Jones' mother and sisters attended the hearing but did not make any comments when approached by reporters on their way out of the courthouse. In an off-camera conversation with ABC7 News last Friday, jones' mother said she had been praying for the girl who was found in the park and then was devastated to learn her son was the suspect.